Grant-making organization Maine Initiatives launched the MaineShare Giving platform Sept. 12 at Brick South at Thompson’s Point during its first Changemakers celebration since the pandemic.
The launch party featured internationally inspired hors d’oeuvres, inspirational calls to action and a concert by performing artist Viva the Sensation. Viva was a 2021 artist in residence at Indigo Arts Alliance, a Maine Initiatives grantee through the Grants for Change program that has been funding BIPOC-led and -serving organizations for a decade.
“Tonight is a celebration,” said board vice president Andrea Francis. “It is a celebration of the potential we have and the power we can create when we come together around shared values of racial justice, Wabanaki sovereignty and self-determination, social justice, gender justice and environmental justice.”
The 300 guests at the free event included representatives of grantee organizations as well as donors, volunteer grant readers, members of grant-making advisory committees and other community members who care about advancing racial justice.
“We’re creating, supporting and nurturing an ecosystem of organizations doing this work,” said senior director Julian Rowand. “It’s not just about making grants for us, it’s also about mobilizing people around the incredible work these organizations are doing.”
Carlton Parsons, a guest from South Portland, said, “Promoting social and economic justice is key to achieving a world where we can all achieve great things. And it was an incredibly fun night.”
Building on the foundation of the Grants for Change, Maine Initiatives started an immigrant-led organizations program in 2018 that has supported more than 40 organizations, including Presente! Maine, Generational Noor and In Her Presence. In 2023, Maine Initiatives and the Nature-Based Education Consortium launched an Outdoor Equity Fund that has supported 20 grantees, including Maine Soccer Development, Wabanaki REACH and Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition.
“Together, through these programs, we are mobilizing close to $2 million to support 90 organizations, the vast majority being BIPOC-led and BIPOC-serving,” said senior director Shimi Kabirigi. “That is incredible.”
Now Maine Initiatives has launched a giving platform (maineinitiatives2.my.site.com) that makes it easy to make a one-time or recurring donation by program, by focus area or directly to one of 80 organizations, including Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, Disability Rights Maine, Food For All Services, Veterans for Peace and Maine Council of Churches.
“What does it mean to love your neighbor?” asked Executive Director Phil Walsh. “The work those organizations are doing – that is the work of love.”
Amy Paradysz is a freelance writer and photographer based in Scarborough. She can be reached at amyparadysz@gmail.com.
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